Signalling Hello (Greensboro)

Signalling Hello (Greensboro) is the first installment of a greeting initiative that collects genuine encounters with pedestrians and expands the experience of Elsewhere. This socially engaged project was informed by Vail’s daily practice of walking through Downtown Greensboro and greeting others with a “Hello.”

The work is materialized in two parts adjacent to her point of departures and arrivals: a hand-painted map on a street-side window that publicly visualizes the accumulated paths, and a looped video of Vail communicating hellos to passersby through the painted glass.

Overwhelmed by the abundance of museum collection, the artist focused on the function of the residency’s building rather than its contents. Departing from her usual practice of reimagining previously owned objects as commentary on American consumption habits, Vail was inspired in the minimal elements of walking and talking.

Vail states, “In an era that lacks in-person interaction, Elsewhere is a platform that promotes connectivity in the community.” Signalling Hello intentionally communicates greeting as a way to extend Elsewhere’s bandwidth, drawing people to it like a beacon.